Shuffling device for playing cards



Oct. 6, 1936. A. GRUNER SHUFFLING DEVICE FOR PLAYING CARDS Filed March20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R11 l. 550' w! a i M a w 2 e n M m. h I n By,M K u /1:

Oct. 6, 1936. GRUNER 2,056,397

SHUFFLING DEVICE FOR PLAYING CARDS Filed March 20,- 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Anti: Granar- Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES Application Theinvention relates to a shuilling device for playing cards.

Card shuflling machines are already known in which the cards are swungto-and-iro over steps that each time only a certain maximum numberofcardsican beJinserted and secondly that 'the mixing processes do notbegin simultaneously in the-mixing compartments, so that any calcula-PATENT 2,050,391 SHUFFIJNG DEVICE FOR PLAYING GARDS Anton Gruner,Berlln-Spandau, Germany March 20, 1935, Serial No. 12,054 GermanyNovember 28, 1934 8 Claims. (CL 273-449) the purpose of these being torecesses are provided next to the card magazines,

advance the uppermost cards by the length of the recess, whereby theuppermost cards are always loosened from shart and-has a" jecting at theside, the latter being ledthrough a slot It in the housing i. Tothe'ratchet wheel; a pulley I3 is secured, the latter wm 5 and others inwhich the cards are lifted 011 the the pile and are able to fall awayquickly. On 6 pack by rubber-faced tongues or fingers and then the camdiscs controlling the base platesthere flicked or dropped\ verticallyinto a container. are provided additional equal recesses arranged All ofthese devices always mix the cards only in in a certain uniformsequence, their purpose bethe same sequence. ing to bring about aninterval for the fall of the 1o In addition a shufiling device is knownin which cards during the opening and closing of the flaps 1c the cardsfall separately or in little piles into for the mixing rooms. In thecommon collector different compartments which are alternately room thereis fitted a plate which is controlled opened and closed mechanically.From these by a cam disc in such a way that it assumes its compartmentsthe cards were subjected to sevhighest position shortly after thecommencement l5 eral further mixings, according to the additional 01 themixing process and then slowly falls, so number of compartments fitted,and then finally that the cards falling in have in each case only fellinto the collector. The shuilling is here efa small distance to fall andthus always fall in iected in several ways by cams of differentarproperly and cannot turn over. In addition there rangements, the cardsbeing completely shuflled is provided in the collector roomanexchangeable w on the cams turning'through 120". box open on the side atwhich the cards fall in,

Shufiling with this device requires however a this box being placed onthe plate. In this way comparatively long time, because at least threeit is possible to shuttle packs of cards that are to or fourcompartments are required for a thorough be kept in stock and to sealthem without havin shuilling. In addition there is the great disadtotouch them by hand. i

' vantage that only packs with fairly thin cards One form of executionofthe object of the in- 25 can be shuilled. All of these disadvantagesare vention is shown in the drawings. overcome by the device accordingto the in- Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal section through the vention. Ishuffling device.

The object of the invention is a shuffling device Fig. 2 shows aplan-view according to Fig. 1.

3G) for playing cards consisting of a closed box in Fig. 3 shows asection through the line 111-111 which the mixing is also executed inseveral ways of Fig. l by means of variously arranged systems of camsFig. 4 shows a plan-view of the difierent cam and which is characterizedby two inclined plane discs. r suriacesformingthe mixing compartmentswith Fig. 5 shows a plan-view of the cam disc that two mixing rooms eachand a common collector operates the base platesof the card magazines. 35

compartment. For each mixing compartment Fig. 6 shows a partial sectionof Fig.l with the there is provided a card magazine with base endposition oi. the card magazines shortly be plates adjustable vertically.'Ihe lever controlfore the completion oi the mixing. W I ling-the baseplates is fitted with a bar perforated Fig. 7 shows a partialsection ofFig; l with a 49 with La member of holes which correspond to difl'erentratio of transmission. I 0

holes in the .houslngvand thus this lever has. an The housing l of thedevice is mounted on a adjustable fulcrum which'makes it possible tobase plate 2 and consists of two inclined plane alter at will the heightof the. lift of the platessurfaces 3a,, -3b forming the mixing:compartand the ratio of transmission in accordance with ments', whichsaid plane surfaces are of such a 5 the thickness of-the cards- In frontof the card shape that each or the card magazines 4a, lb

magazines-there'are fitted fixed plates of differpossesses two mixingrooms 5a, 5b. and Ba; 6b, ent sizes, so that with the regulation of theheight while there is a common collector room*l.' in oi the lift of thebase plates there are simultane-' the housing I there is ounted a-shaft8 on which ously obtained-two openings of diiierent sizes to severalydiscs' othed wheel are'fitted.

5 the card magazines, the effect ofwhich is firstly namely :ar' eelSL-which isloosecn' the 50 tionis:impossible; Inztheinclined'planesurfaces one end of. a cord that isto' be placed-mm 55' ailing, it

' grooves of the pulley while the other end of this cord is fastened toa powerful draw spring I! which drives the whole mechanism. Next to theratchet wheel is mounted a toothed wheel I which three cut-in teeth ornotches Ila, b, c in which the pawl In of the ratchet wheel 9 engages.Adjacent to the toothed wheel I! are mounted mixing cam discs l8, I9,20, flap cams 2|, 22, a. cam disc 23 and a toothed wheel 24,

which latter drives, in a known way, a governor 25 in order to make itpossible to control the speed, as for example in a gramophone. Thetoothed wheel ii, the mixing cams I 8, I9, 20, the cams 22, the fiapcams 2|, 22 and the toothed wheel 24 are connected together and turntogether on the shaft 8.

The cam discs are divided around their peripheries into three difi'erentcam sectors of 120 each. Each of the three cam sectors is arrangeddifi'erently.

By means of the mixing cam disc it, which in addition has specialrecesses l8a, and with the aid of a roller 26 (Figs. 6, 7), a lever 21is controlled which regulates the lift of the card magazines 4a, 4b andis provided with a draw spring 28. By

means of the mixing cam disc I! and with the aid of a roller 29 and aspring 20 a lever 3| is controlled which operates a bolt 32 of themixing compartments 6a, 6b. By means of the mixing cam disc 20 and withthe aid of a roller 22 and a spring 34, a lever 35 is controlled whichoperates a bolt 36 of the mixing compartments in, 5b. The flap cam disc2| controls by means of a roller 31 and a spring 38, a lever 29operating the fiaps 40a, 40b which open and close the mixingcompartments 5a, 5b, while the fiap cam disc 22 controls, by meansof aroller ll and a spring (not shown) a lever 42 which operates flaps 43a,

b which open and close the mixing compart-- ments to, 6b. The cam disc22 has the object of controlling, by means of a roller 44 and a spring45, a lever 46 in the collector room 1, which lever moves a plate 41which slides in a groove guide "a.

The lever 21 has a bar 40 perforated with a number of holes 48. In thehousing I the same number of holes ill (partly shown in Fig. 7) isprovided. The bar ll and the housing I are connected by meansofapin II.

In the card magazines la, lb are inserted base plates 52a, 52b,adjustable vertically, which are connected together and slide in a guidegroove 53.

On the inclined plane surfaces, adjacent to the card magazines, recessesIla, b (one on each surface) are fitted. In front of each magazine thereis fastened a plate a, lib which close of! the magazines at the top,while the base plates close oil. the magazines at the bottom.

The two inclined plane surfaces 3a. 3b forming V mixing compartmentshave a common colthe lector room I. In the latter there is fitted anexchangeable box I.

The way in which the mixing device according to the invention works isas follows:

'I'hepackofcardsKthatistobeshuii'iedisimsertedinthecardmagasineapartlyinmagazine 4a and partly in magazine 4b;the handle ll, projecting through the side, is then swung as far as theend of the slot l2, Thereupon. the draw mechanismisplacedundertension.The arawspringisconnectedatoneendtothe grooved pulley II by means of andmesroundthepulleyin the groovea'while the On pulleyitselfisjoinedtothethat is through 120 spring ll operating the the ratchet wheel I, whichis loose on the shaft 8, the pawl I0 is mounted. The latter engages inthe nearest notch Ila, ill; or IIc, formed in the toothed wheel l8 andin this way operates the cam discs ll, ll, 2|, 2|, 22, 22 and thetoothed 5 wheel 2|. The ratchet wheel I begins to move the cam discs"-22 and the toothed wheel 24 immediately after the spring is placedunder tension. The mixing process is then as follows: the base plates82a, 82b of the card magazines to, 4b are raised in a series of jerksand thus cards i'all one after the other along the two inclined planesurfaces 3a, 3b forming the mixing compartments into the mixing rooms5a, SD or to, 6b according to the position of the flaps a, b. After thecams have travelled about 30 the cards have fallen according to thearrangement of the cams, into the mixing rooms to, 5b or to, 6b and someof them into the common collector room 1. After the cams have passedthrough the next 30, the remaining cards also fall from the mixing roomsto, 5b into the mixing rooms 6a, 6b and into the collector room, so thatthe cards, already once mixed, now lie in the rooms to, ib and in thecommon collector room 1. When the cams turn through the next 60'approximately, all of the cards fall into the common collector room I.In consequence of the arrangement of the cams on the discs, the plates52a, 52?) return to their starting position, as do also the bolts 32, 36and the flaps Illa, 40b and- 43a, 43b.

As a different cam sector then comes into operation the next pack ofcards is mixed in.a different sequence. Each of the camsectors has adifferent arrangement. Thus the sequence of the mixing is alwaysautomatically different for the purpose of avoiding irregularities inthe insertion of the cards.

In the previously known devices the cards were either onlymixed in thesame order or else, if mixing cams were used, they were certainlythoroughly shufiied but the process required a comparatively long timeas for complete mixing at least three or four mixing rooms wererequired. In addition only packs with thin cards could be mixed. Owingtothe use, according to the invention, of two inclined planes 3m, 2b whichform the mixing compartments it is made possible for a very thick'packof cards to be mixed at one time, for example forbaccarat where 224cards are used. By the arrangement of the bar ll onv the lever 21, whichbar is fitted with a number of holes II and by fitting the same numberof holes II in the housing I, these holes being joined by a pin ii, theratio of on and the height of the lift of the plates I20, l2b can beadjustedsothatthecorrectstartin gpositionof the plates 52a, 52b can beobtained to corrapond tothethicknessofthepacksofcardsthatare to bemixed. It for example the pin II is placed in the lowest hole (Big. 6),then the plates obtain the maximum lift A andat the same time a largerratio of transmission. If on the other hand the pin l|.is placed in theupmost hole (Elg.7),thcn theplates I2 aregiventhesmallestliftBandatthesametimeasmallratiooftransmission is produced.

Thefixedplatesllinfrontofthecardmagaregulatingtheheightofthelii'tby'adjustingthebaseplates 7oI2,twoopeningsofdiflerentsisesforinserting cards are obtained, the

' the cam shaft actuating said same time in the two mixing compartments,so that any calculation is impossible.

n the cam disc l8 there are additional equal recesses I8a. in a certainuniform sequence, their object being to produce a pause for the fall ofthe cards during the opening and closing of the flaps 40, 43;

The recesses 54 have the object of advancing the uppermost cards by thelength of thereoesses, so that in each case the uppermost cards areloosened from the pack and are able to fall down quickly.

The common collector room l is operated by the cam disc 23 with the aidof the roller 44, the lever 46 with the spring 45 and the plate 41,which latter slides in a guide groove 41a. The arrangement of the camsis effected in such a way that at the commencement of the mixing processthe collector room remains closed until the plate 31 has reached itshighest position, whereupon the plate falls slowly in order that thecards that then fall into the collector room have always only a shortdistance to fall and thus fall in safely without being able to turn overunder any circumstances.

At the same time there is fitted in the collector room an exchangeablebox 56 open at the side at which the cards fab in, and into this box themixed cards fall. take out the mixed pack together with the box withoutany trouble or difllculty, and the box can then be sealed. In this wayit is possible to mix cards that are to be kept in stock, withouttouching them by hand.

The device can be driven in any desired way, for example electrically orpneumatically, instead of by a spring.

I claim:-

1. A shuffling device for playing cards, comprising a casing, twomagazines mounted adjacent the top of said casing each adapted toreceive part of the pack of playing cards, an inclined mixingcompartment leading down from each magazine, means for feeding the cardsfrom said magazine so that they slide through the inclined mixingcompartments, two mixing rooms formed in each mixing compartment, flapscontrolling the entry of cards to said mixing rooms, bolts controllingthe outlet of cards from said mixing rooms, a cam shaft actuating saidflaps, bolts, and feeding means, driving means for the cam shaft, and acommon collector room adapted to receive the shuffled cardsafter theyhave passed through each mixing compartment, flaps and bolts so thatsome cards are held temporarily in one or both mixing rooms of a mixingcompartment, and some cards pass straight through said mixingcompartment.

2. A shuilling device for playing cards as claimed in claim 1,comprising base plates slidably mounted in the card magazines and meansfor adjusting said base plate vertically.

'3. A shuilling device for playing cards according to claim 1,comprisingbase plates slidably mounted in the card magazines, a cam onthe cam shaft for actuating said base plates so that said base platesrise in the magazines and raise the cards causing the top cards to slidedown In this way it is possible to claimed in claim 1, comprising toraise them and through the mixing compartments, a lever member fortransmitting the drive of said cam to said base plates, and a fulcrumpin adapted to take a bearing in any one of a number of perforations insaid lever member and be mounted in anyone of a number of perforationsin the casing of the device to alter the position of the fulcrum of said\ever, so that the height of lift of the base plates and the ratio oftransmission of movement thereto can be varied to suit the thickness ofthe pack of cards in use.

4. A shufiling device for playing cards as claimed in claim 1,comprising plates fixed to the casing to limit the size of the openingsfor the insertion of the cards into the magazines, said plates, whichare mounted in place af ter the adjustment of the magazine card feedingmeans,

being of such size that said openings are of different size, the resultof which is firstly that each time only a certain maximum number ofcards can be inserted and secondly that the mixing processes do notbegin simultaneously in the mixing compartments, so that any calculationof the result of the shuiliing is impossible.

5. A shufliing device for playing cards as claimed in claim 1,comprising a recessed portion at the top edge of each card magazine,which permit the top cards to slide forward the length of said recesses,thereby loosening the top cards so that they are able eventually toslide easily from the magazines. 6. A shuffling device for playing cardsas base plates slidably mounted in the card magazines, and a cam on thecam shaft, the periphery of said cam being formed with recesses arrangedin a uniform sequence, said cam actuating the base plates the cardsmounted thereon in the magazines, so that the top cards can slide downthrough the 'mixing compartments, the recesses in the peripheryproducing a pause for the falling of the cards during the movements ofthe flaps.

'7. A shufiling device for playing cards as claimed in claim 1,comprising a plate slidably mounted in the common collector room, and acam upon the cam shaft adapted to actuate said plate in such manner thatsaid plate reaches its highest position shortly after the commencementof the mixing process and descends slowly, so that the cards fallingfrom the mixing compartments have always only a short distance to fall,

and thus fall safely without being able to turn over.

8. A shuflling device for playing cards as claimed in claim 1,comprising a plate slidably mounted in the common collector room, anexchangeable box placed on said plate, said box being open on one sideinto which the cards are adapted 'to fall, and a cam upon the cam shaftadapted to actuate said plate in such manner that said plate reaches itshighest position shortly after the commencement of the mixing processand descends slowly, so that the cards falling from the mixingcompartments have always only a short distanceto fall, and thus fallsafely without being able to turn over.

ANTON GRUNER.

